Beyond The Crossroads: Business Innovation and The CIO Role

center for CIO leadership
A GLOBAL COMMUNITY TO ADVANCE THE PROFESSION
Beyond the Crossroads:

How Business-Savvy CIOs Enable Top-Performing
Enterprises and How Top-Performing Enterprises
Leverage Business-Savvy CIOs
January 2010
F O U N D I N G PA R T N E R
Beyond the Crossroads
Page
Table of Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Research-Driven Approach to Advance the Profession . . . . . 4

The Center for CIO Leadership Research Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The IBM Research Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Integrating the Center Research and the IBM Research. . . . . . . . . . 7
Becoming a Business-Savvy CIO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Actions for Making Innovation Real. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Actions for Raising the ROI of IT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Actions for Expanding Business Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Additional Perspectives on Increasing CIO Impact. . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
How the Center for CIO Leadership Can Help. . . . . . . . . . . . 24
About the Center for CIO Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
I. Center of CIO Leadership Competency Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
II. Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Page
Preface
If you were a CIO in 2006, you were likely exposed to lots of articles, white papers and media focus on the role of
the CIO which, in the opinion of many at that time, was less than encouraging. In the extreme case, people were
saying “CIO” stood for “Career Is Over” or “Chief Infrastructure Officer.” The more optimistic view saw the CIO role
as a “junior” executive position, one (usually) with a seat at the executive table yet often not involved in setting busi-
ness strategy or having significant input into how information technology could drive top-line revenue or sustainable
business growth. The job was primarily about running a tight operation and continually managing down capital and
operating expenses associated with the IT function.
That same year, many industry leaders and pundits characterized the role of CIO as at a crossroads, challenged with
a choice: to become true business partners and equal peers at the C-suite level or, alternatively, accept the fact that
their role would likely be marginalized.
In direct response to the challenges posed, the Center for CIO Leadership was launched to serve as a catalyst for
enabling the global CIO community to clearly understand and articulate these needs and to facilitate the delivery of
education and professional development resources to support the CIO’s journey toward becoming a strategic
business leader.
Three years later, the Center is pleased to report that the concerns expressed by many leaders, pundits and CIOs
themselves about their uncertain future have meaningfully given way to a very different outlook. Our work with
hundreds of CIOs from all around the world has shown that the profession has, in many cases, moved beyond the
crossroads, and that many more CIOs are beginning to seize the leadership opportunity and play increasingly
impactful strategic roles within their enterprise.
Are we done? Not even close — there is still much work ahead. This paper highlights the progress that we, as a
profession, have made in just a few short years. It is designed to share with you some of the tools and techniques
that have been developed to facilitate the journey and, more importantly, some of the success stories that begin to
give form and substance to the characterization of this new emerging role — the Business-Savvy CIO.
I invite you to spend time with this paper and to reflect upon its meaning to you in your role as a CIO. I hope you will
agree with me that we have indeed chosen the right fork in the road and that our careers as CIOs are brighter than
ever. Most importantly, I strongly encourage you to participate in our community and continue to share and debate
your opinions and points of view to fuel and energize your journey. I look forward to continuing the trip with you.
With warm regards,
Harvey R. Koeppel
Executive Director
Center for CIO Leadership

Page
Research-Driven Approach
to Advance the Profession
THE CENTER FOR CIO LEADERSHIP RESEARCH OVERVIEW
In 2008, the Center for CIO Leadership initiated two significant research
efforts. The first was the design and development of a new framework
which described the Core Competencies and Good Practices required
for CIOs to transform their role into that of the Business-Savvy CIO.
The Competency Model was the outcome of a detailed qualitative study
conducted with leading CIOs, academic experts and other prominent
industry practitioners. A graphical illustration of the Competency Model
is illustrated in Figure 1. For the complete specification of Good Prac-
tices associated with each of the Core Competencies see Appendix I.
Leadership Business Strategy and Process

s !LIGNBUSINESSCOLLEAGUES s 0ARTICIPATEINBUSINESSSTRATEGY
s 3ERVEASATRUSTEDADVISOR s ,INK)4TOBUSINESSDRIVERS
s ,EADANDINFLUENCEOTHERS s $EVELOPBUSINESSINDICATORS
Innovation and Growth Organization and

s 3ECUREINNOVATIONRESOURCES Talent Management
s $EVELOPOPPORTUNITIES s $EVELOPASUCCESSPLAN
WITHCLIENTS s $ELEGATETHENONSTRATEGIC
s ,EADANINNOVATIONPROCESS s "UILD)4TEAMBUSINESSSKILLS
Figure 1. The Center for CIO Leadership Competency Model

Beyond the Crossroads To enable CIOs to identify their individual strengths and developmental
Page opportunities, the Center implemented its second major research
program in July of 2008 — a global self-assessment survey. The survey
provided CIOs with a means for comparing their own skills, competen-
cies and areas of focus with those previously established by the Good
Practices defined within the Competency Model. Nearly 300 CIOs
globally participated in the survey. The findings were organized by Core
Competency and, at a high level, revealed the following opportunities
for CIOs:
Core Competency Associated Strengths and Opportunities
Leadership CIOs clearly view themselves as leaders of the IT function and

the IT vision in the organization. They have further opportunity
to establish themselves as true C-suite peers and leaders of
their enterprise.
Business Strategy Given their unique knowledge of end-to-end business processes, CIOs
and Process are well positioned to lead their enterprise through often-desired
process standardization, simplification and streamlining initiatives.
They report that there is, however, increased opportunity to participate
in business strategy and collaborate with customers and other external
business partners to successfully drive these programs through to
successful fruition.
Innovation Many CIOs actively envision and propose innovative ideas for how IT
and Growth can drive their enterprise. There is a significant gap between the
number and frequency of innovation programs proposed versus the
number of initiatives that actually get funded.
Organization and While most CIOs understand the skills and competencies that their IT
Talent Management organizations need to acquire and develop, there is a large gap between
those that know what they need to do versus the number of CIOs that
actually have the appropriate staffing and skills development plans in
place. An even smaller number of CIOs reported that they lack the
bench strength and do not have a plan in place to delegate authority
when needed.
For further reading, the detailed results of the survey appear in the
October 2008 white paper, The CIO Profession: Leaders of Change,
Drivers of Innovation.
The Center has continued to evolve its education and outreach programs
to help CIOs address the challenges that they face as they progress
along their journey from being managers of the IT cost center to becom-
ing business leaders of the enterprise.

Beyond the Crossroads THE IBM RESEARCH OVERVIEW
Page
In 2009, IBM performed a comprehensive global survey entitled The
New Voice of the CIO, based upon in-depth one-on-one interviews with
almost 2,600 CIOs worldwide. IBM’s research created a framework for
describing the Strategic Initiatives and supporting Tactical Roles that
CIOs need to focus upon. The framework is depicted in Figure 2 below.
Insightful Savvy Collaborative

Visionary Value Creator Business Leader
Strategic Making Raising the Expanding Tactical

Initiatives Innovation Real ROI of IT Business Impact Roles
Able Relentless Inspiring

Pragmatist Cost Cutter IT Manager
Figure 2. Strategic Initiatives and Tactical Roles of the CIO
The IBM study revealed that in top-performing enterprises, CIOs extend

their impact by enacting multiple seemingly contradictory roles, e.g.,
Insightful Visionary and Able Pragmatist, driven by the real-time demands
of situations encountered on a daily basis. Looked at in this light, these
roles can be seen as not contradictory at all, but rather as different areas
of priority and focus that are continuously balanced by the demands of
the particular situation.
The Business-Savvy CIOs demonstrated increased awareness

of and sensitivity to the context that they were operating within an
ever-evolving business environment driven by macroeconomic factors,
regional conditions, industry and competitive dynamics, organizational
influences, and personal aspirations.
Statistical analyses of the study data additionally showed that CIOs in

high-growth organizations focus on innovative change and collaboration
(the Collaborative Business Leader role), and tend to delegate respon-
sibilities associated with their more traditional Inspiring IT Manager (IT
cost center manager) role.
See the publication The New Voice of the CIO for a more detailed view
on the findings and their implications.

Beyond the Crossroads Integrating the Center Research and the IBM Research
Page
Taken individually, either body of work will lead a CIO to performance
improvement; looked at from an integrated perspective, the combined
findings and recommendations will lead a CIO toward performance
optimization.
As you read through the paper, think of the Strategic Initiatives and
Tactical Roles as what is expected of the CIO by the enterprise: in other
words, the job description. Think of the Core Competencies and Good
Practices as a view into what is needed for success: in other words, the
skills needed to do the job.
A graphical representation of how these two bodies of research come

together is shown in Figure 3.
How top-
Top- performing
Performing enterprises
How Business- Enterprises leverage the
Savvy CIOs Business-
enable top- Savvy CIO
performing
enterprises Strategic Initiatives and Informs
Enables
Tactical Roles
Core Competencies and Mastered

Exhibits Good Practices By
The Business-Savvy CIO
Figure 3. Integration of the Center Research and the IBM Research
Expanding upon the integrated research framework, the remainder of

this white paper presents practical and actionable recommendations
from your CIO peers that you can use to construct a personal roadmap
to continue your journey toward becoming a Business-Savvy CIO who
successfully enables a top-performing enterprise.

Page
Becoming a Business-Savvy CIO
CIOs report that the challenging economic environment is changing
their priorities. CIOs realize they need to be flexible, must adjust the IT
strategy to the business strategy, and have to find a diverse portfolio of
accountable solutions as business strategies shift. CIOs also point out
that efficiency and cost cutting alone are not sufficient. Transformation
through technology is required, although CIOs acknowledge that cost
cutting can impact their ability to bring innovation to the table.
The integrated research view presented in Figure 3 provides CIOs with

the C-suite or enterprise view of what is expected from a top-performing
CIO : the job description, together with the individual view of what CIOs
need for success. These are the skills needed to do the job.
Figure 4 highlights enterprise-level Strategic Initiatives as they inform

what is needed to become a Business-Savvy CIO. These initiatives
provide a context for understanding the impact of the Core Competen-
cies and Good Practices that are critical to CIOs within top-performing
enterprises and provide a framework for the remaining sections of the
white paper. These all present the experiences, examples and advice
from CIOs on how to advance their skills and impact.
Top- How top-

Performing performing
How Business- Enterprises enterprises
Savvy CIOs leverage the
enable top- Business-
performing Strategic Initiatives and Savvy CIO
enterprises Tactical Roles
Enables
Informs
Core Competencies and Mastered

Exhibits Good Practices By
The Business-Savvy CIO
Figure 4. Taking the Steps Toward Becoming a Business-Savvy CIO

Beyond the Crossroads Actions for Making Innovation Real
Page
The current economic environment is driving technology innovation
in many organizations, which most certainly creates opportunities for
CIOs, particularly around customer service and other customer-facing
processes.
Strategic Initiatives and
Tactical Roles
The IBM research determined that CIOs who are successful at Making
Innovation Real exhibit traits from an enabling pair of roles: Insightful
Visionary and Able Pragmatist. Through a series of surveys and qualita-
tive interviews, the research points to a set of Competencies and Good
Practices that will help CIOs who are looking for activities and advice to
grow these traits.
Communicate a Vision for Innovation to Drive Opportunity

The research clearly ratifies the importance of being seen as a trusted
advisor and a leader of change and transformation to help solidify a CIO
as an Insightful Visionary. CIOs should take advantage of their insight
and the future competitive possibilities that technology innovations can
enable to build trust as an advisor to their executive peers. As one
Center member commented:
“The acceptance of my role in leading innovation is heightened.

There was always acceptance of the CIO sitting at the table.
Now the business is hungry for what I have to say.”
Change and transformation do not have to be dramatic to make impact.

Although CIOs are being asked to do more with less, alert CIOs still
identify innovation opportunities, both large and small.

Beyond the Crossroads Hertz Corporation Senior Vice President and CIO Joseph Eckroth
Page 10 explains what he terms a “huge opportunity” for CIOs to help their
organizations advance by focusing on smaller scale innovation. In fact,
he points out that CIOs’ experience in doing more with less can become
a core strength in leading innovation through creating more efficient and
Strategic Initiatives and more effective processes.
Tactical Roles
“Everybody’s business is suffering because of the global

economy. There’s a real opportunity for CIOs to step up and
do what we do best, which is help the business advance. It may
be at a smaller scale, it may be more focused, but there’s a real
opportunity. On the other side, we also have a huge opportunity
because we’re being asked to do more with less, which is not a
new paradigm for us, but probably on a bigger scale.” 1
To become an Insightful Visionary, CIOs must be able to communicate

their vision — and do so in a manner that both excites colleagues and
demonstrates their leadership and knowledge about the business
impact of IT investments. A Center member who understands the
importance of positioning oneself as a visionary gives this advice:
“Make what is invisible, visible to your business colleagues.

Talk to them about the future and how it will truly change the
business — they love to hear about that.”
Effective communication provides another benefit to CIOs: credit for

providing technology innovation for competitive advantage, as shown
in the case on page 11.

Page 11 CASE EXAMPLE : Getting Credit for Innovation
Under Senior Vice President and CIO Joseph Eckroth, Hertz

Corporation introduced self-service kiosks in facilities around
the world. The successful global roll out, which helped reduce
Tactical Roles wait time and reduce counter staff, not only innovated the rental
process, but it also saved a lot of money in terms of labor
efficiency and it enhanced customer service. This represented
an opportunity for IT to help the organization make the connec-
tion between better business process and better customer
experience — a key element of business value. When it came
time to provide the appropriate credit to whom in the organiza-
tion was driving efficiencies and budgets at Hertz, IT received
credit for their contribution. “IT getting credit is a big change,”
said Eckroth. “That’s a huge shift in thinking, but that’s the way it
should be. We have to continue every year to show how we are
managing our operations more efficiently. We shouldn’t be
exempt from that. On the other side of it, as we do that, we
should also be getting credit for the amount of efficiencies we’re
driving in the business if we’re introducing technology that’s
doing that.”2
Connecting with the Business to Get to Results

The flip side of vision is pragmatism, and CIOs who perform as Able
Pragmatists to Make Innovation Real keep one key word in mind:
business. To be successful as innovators and lead the organization
to accept the value that technology enables, CIOs must also know
business strategy and process. They must be able to focus their IT team
on the business and show their business partners how to make that link.
“The CIO needs to be more flexible and adjust the IT strategy to the
business strategy,” recommends one CIO.
A focus on business does not mean an internal focus. The ability to

partner effectively with external vendors and lead relationships through
an effective governance process provides CIOs with a key tool to enable
business growth. Saab Group CIO Michael Friis, for example, leverages
strategic and forthright relationships with vendors to enhance IT’s
contribution to Saab’s growth.

Page 12
“My role is to support the business and to increase the profit-
ability of Saab, so I need a partnership with different vendors or
suppliers in this, meaning that I need to share much of my own
strategy to build the relationships. The willingness to be open
Tactical Roles
in my discussions has surprised some of the companies that
I work with. The key is that you have a strategy and you know
what you want.”3
Paul Jeffreys, Director of Information Technology at the University of

Oxford, brought innovation to the university by effectively blending the
Insightful Visionary and Able Pragmatist attributes to Make Innovation
Real and connect with the business needs of his organization. Seeing
opportunity to add value slowed by institutional inertia, he employed a
gentle but convincing approach to change — listening to his business
leaders’ needs and facilitating a dialog to uncover the key areas where
most value will accrue. As Jeffreys explains:
“I see opportunities for real value-added services. At the same

time I can’t go to researchers or teachers and let technology
lead what they’re doing. The way to go forward is to go to
them and say, ‘I understand the traditional teaching process in
Oxford is highly regarded and extremely valued. Are there gaps
where you could be more efficient or more effective with the
use of technology? Let me give you some examples.’ Or find-
ing areas of best practice in one part of the university using the
latest e-learning opportunities, and saying, ‘Are you aware that
this group is doing it this way? Would you like to try it?’ It’s a
coaxing of the people in the university to recognize that there
are opportunities here to do what they’ve always done, but in a
more effective way.”4

Beyond the Crossroads Research further suggests that CIOs can be more effective as Able
Page 13 Pragmatists when their IT organization understands the business and
what the enterprise is trying to achieve. Jeffreys, who oversees a widely
decentralized operation, adds that Making Innovation Real requires a
particular mix of skills to maximize the service capability of IT and help
Strategic Initiatives and the team align to the service mission.
Tactical Roles
“I see a real change of skills mix to having quality of service

running large enterprise software suites and then local support
for being much closer to the type of activity that happens in
their local units. This change leads to some challenges in terms
of the staff that we have in the university. And you have to be
realistic. You have to go to the staff and say, ‘Look, life has
changed. We are here to deliver a service to the users. We have
to have the right skills, the right types of people for the services
that are now needed.’” 5

Beyond the Crossroads Actions for Raising the ROI of IT
Page 14
The IBM research shows that CIOs who are successful in raising the ROI
of IT are able to blend two challenging roles: Savvy Value Creator and
Relentless Cost Cutter. The following stories will help CIOs advance
their ability to raise the ROI of IT and to appropriately balance the traits
Tactical Roles
of the Savvy Value Creator and Relentless Cost Cutter.
Communicating the Business Value of IT — A Core Lever for Impact

We have focused deeply on the questions of defining and communi-
cating business value, emphasizing the critical aspect of developing
a business-focused view of ROI, and linking investments to business
value drivers for CIOs to be Savvy Value Creators. Findings underscore
the importance of linking technology investments to specific business
strategies and outcomes in order to define and drive value creation.
Maintaining a comprehensive end-to-end view of IT’s role in delivering
value to customers is paramount, as is linking IT to key business drivers.
One-time Virgin Entertainment CIO and VP of Information Technology

Robert Fort achieved both of these objectives when Virgin introduced its
Crescendo data reporting system, as described in “Creating Value Op-
portunities with Strategic Data Delivery” below.
CASE EXAMPLE : Creating Value Opportunities with

Strategic Data Delivery
When Virgin Entertainment Group replaced a manual data re-

porting process with its home-grown Crescendo system, it put
high-value information into the hands of the people who could
influence results — the front line sales staff. Employees in Virgin
stores could view sales, inventory levels, and other information
throughout the day, even down to 15-minute increments. They
knew quickly the products moving fastest and if they were
meeting their sales plan for the day. If traffic was down, staff
could begin talking to every customer in the store. Using the
power of the data newly available to the front line, Virgin was
then able to take the learnings from the information and prog-
ress to the next level. “We were actually to the point that we
were trying to predict what was going on,” said former CIO
and VP of Information Technology Robert Fort. “As that system
moved more to the buying level, the buyers were sitting there
and using that data to understand past sales trends, but they
actually used those to predict future sales trends.”6

Beyond the Crossroads At the same time, when making the connection between IT and business
Page 15 drivers, CIOs must be prudent. Business results come from a complex
set of steps and inputs, of which technology is a critical component, but
not the sole contributor. A Center member offers this advice, and a word
of caution:
Tactical Roles
“Link IT to revenue drivers of the business. You must be clear,

but careful. IT cannot claim the full project value, because it
is generally supporting something else. There is a fine line
between being able to make the link while not treading on
someone else’s territory to make that connection.”
Communicating Value in the Right Way Speaks Volumes

Effective communication of IT’s strategies for innovation and growth is
necessary for CIOs to be recognized as champions of value creation.
Research with CIOs emphasizes the critical step of communicating
value effectively in bringing the enterprise along to support strategies
for innovation. CIOs need to remember the importance of simplifying
complex information into understandable and actionable messages, a
step that many CIOs find challenging, as explained by one CIO:
“Taking complex data and complex systems and communicat-

ing it in a clear way is hard. It might be clear in the CIO’s head,
but simplifying it into a message for others can be a challenge.”
One of the communication gaps many CIOs find challenging is dem-

onstrating the critical link of the IT strategy with the strategy driving
the business. The step of illustrating how IT strategy maps to business
strategy can help CIOs effectively communicate the role of IT investment
in growth and value creation.

Beyond the Crossroads One Center member — highlighted in the quote below — underscored the
Page 16 critical step of making the clear connection on how this mapping of IT
strategy to business strategy occurs in gaining the buy-in on the value
of the investment:

Tactical Roles
“CIOs always miss a slide. After the business strategy, the next
slide shows a systems applications landscape. The missing
slide is one that puts the strategy into business themes and
maps the way in which the IT investments will help the business
support those themes.”
Making the Most of ROI

Most CIOs acknowledge the importance of measuring the ROI of IT
investments in bridging the communication gap around the value of
technology. A Center member described it this way:
“Good metrics help build transparency and trust. The business

knows what we are tracking and they appreciate it. The facts
will set you free. That helps build the trust.”
To take it a step further, some CIOs have found that comparing pro-
jected ROI with actual ROI ensures a more accurate way to quantify the
impact of IT investments on business outcomes. As one Center member
highlights in the quote below, tracking and verifying the results of initial
ROI calculations is not always done after the fact, and this undermines
the credibility of the assessment of potential return for future projects
and projections:
“ROI is still the Holy Grail, but even companies that succeed
well in calculating ROI upfront rarely go back to confirm their
assumptions and calculations. Taking the next step to track
what happened against what you thought would happen helps
to evolve the metrics for understanding true value going
forward.”

Beyond the Crossroads At the end of the day, selling value is still selling. Research underscores
Page 17 the need for CIOs to develop effective selling skills, including under-
standing the audience, having the ability to elicit and uncover the right
issues of concern to that audience, and gathering buy-in to effect the
change needed, as stated by one Center member:
Tactical Roles
“Everything is about selling value, and the type of value is

determined by who you are talking to. You need to open all
your antennae. What are your colleagues doing? How can you
reach them?”
Given the more demanding and changing global economic environment

during the past year, it is not surprising that research revealed value
creation, cost cutting and efficiencies as becoming more central to
driving business competitiveness and growth throughout the C-suite,
and it is likely that the importance of cost cutting and efficiencies will
continue. Linking IT to business value also is an element of being strate-
gic and focused in the approach to cost cutting and efficiencies.
“The over-arching theme is: How do we cut cost without cutting

into customer service? How do we keep cost at a minimum, and
how do we improve what is already in place with selective
investments?”
Taking a Strategic Leadership Role through Cost Cutting

Becoming an effective Relentless Cost Cutter can — and should —
involve more than a narrow focus on IT. As explained by former Virgin
CIO and VP of Information Technology Robert Fort, knowing the busi-
ness side improves the value and impact of cost-cutting decisions and
in fact positions the CIO in a more strategic frame.
“I’ve always taken my IT department and tried to focus it most

on the top line — driving sales. Inherent in everything we do,
though, is to try to control costs. Certainly when the total
enterprise starts taking a hit, we have to start looking at things
that we can resolve. That’s where business and IT alignment
come back to play. I don’t think that an IT department can take
out its own costs without having worked with the business and
understood the business.” 7
Beyond the Crossroads Effectively raising the ROI of IT requires CIOs to be both Savvy Value
Page 18 Creators and Relentless Cost Cutters. In “Aligning Competing Priorities
and Securing Buy-In” below, Center member and CIO of a large univer-
sity gained users’ trust to effectively play both roles.

Tactical Roles
CASE EXAMPLE : Aligning Competing Priorities and Securing Buy-In
The CIO of a large university saw an opportunity to consolidate

the three separate admissions programs currently being used by
the MBA, doctorate, and executive MBA programs respectively.
The programs operate as autonomous silos within the university
and regarded their admissions program data as their own care-
fully guarded asset. At the same time, the CIO knew that there
was overlap in much of the information, as well as duplication
of system management and maintenance. Although a single
program made sense from an infrastructure maintenance, cost,
and efficiency perspective, none of the three programs wanted
to make the switch. The CIO met with the admissions heads
and listened to their arguments against consolidation to better
understand their fears and their needs. He learned that all three
were fearful of losing their jobs; plus, the three programs were
marketed to the same student base and they were afraid to
share access (even though coordinated marketing campaigns
could support and lift all three programs). “After having these
conversations, I was able to make the business case that it
was going to cost less, offer business efficiencies, and create
marketing opportunities for each of the participants if they share
and collaborate on the same system. This turned the tide.”

Beyond the Crossroads Actions for Expanding Business Impact
Page 19
The ability of successful CIOs to Expand the Business Impact of IT is
evident in their ability to simultaneously act in the roles of Collaborative
Business Leader and Inspiring IT Manager. This section provides insight
and guidance on Good Practices CIOs can leverage to make progress in
Tactical Roles
these areas.
Linking to Business Goals Provides the Basis for Impact

CIOs functioning as Collaborative Business Leaders fully understand the
end-to-end business environment — from the customer base to com-
petition, from industry trends to regulation. As respected advisors and
change leaders, these CIOs impact growth by carefully integrating IT into
the business. As one CIO in the entertainment sector described it, in his
organization integration is a key to how they operate on a daily basis.
“Business and technology executives work together day to day,

often involving business strategy. We are creating the future of
our enterprise by integrating business needs with technology.”
By identifying business priorities and establishing integrated goals, CIOs

enjoy greater success as strategic leaders. One CIO explains his view
on the importance of starting with the business problem that needs to
be solved to more clearly make the link from the business goal to the
technology investment needed.
“We need to focus on the business problem that has to be

solved; otherwise, at the end of the day it just looks like another
IT strategy . . . not a business initiative.”
Chief Operating Officer of Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) Aimé

Achard suggests another important element in collaborating to integrate
IT and the business—ensuring that the project teams combine the range
of business and technology skills required to make the connection.
“The [project] lead should be from the business, and it should

be a multi-disciplinary team with IT people and users as part of
the team. It is not an IT project; it is a user’s project.”8

Beyond the Crossroads Leading the IT Team to Help Drive Business Impact
Page 20
Making an impact as an Inspiring IT Manager is also linked to develop-
ing the IT team so they can adequately support the strategic IT vision
and help drive the vision throughout the enterprise. As BCV’s Achard
relates, a blend of skills on the team can enhance the capabilities of IT
Tactical Roles
as a strategic business partner.
“You have to have a team that will bring you the expertise that
you might not have. So it means that young CIOs must have
a team with more senior level executives who will help them
understand and properly communicate to the users and to the
bank and understand what the basis of that business is. So we
have to find a middle way of having both technicians and geeks
so that we have something that is realistic for business.”9
Talent management is more than hiring and training, of course. Some-

times it is listening and providing support, moving a good idea from a
casual discussion to a value-added initiative, and providing the critical
link from the IT function to the rest of the business, as demonstrated by
Hertz’ Eckroth in “A Conduit for Ideas” below.
CASE EXAMPLE : A Conduit for Ideas
Hertz Corporation Senior Vice President and CIO Joseph

Eckroth was engaged in a “skip level meeting” with a group of
technology employees when a Web developer mentioned a non-
technical, business idea he had for promoting a one-way rental.
This was a new program for Hertz, and the Web developer
suggested a nostalgic road-trip theme would be a winner.
Eckroth did, too, and arranged a meeting with the directors of
sales and marketing. The Web developer’s brainstorm became
one of Hertz’ new promotions, and in turn he was tasked with
determining new ways to use the Web to improve the customer
experience for Hertz, an exciting opportunity for the Web
developer to use his technical skills to directly benefit the
customer. Interacting and listening to staff and then facilitating
the exchange of ideas with the rest of the business made it
work. Explained Eckroth, “My idea is to be a conduit for ideas to
get them to the right place. That doesn’t guarantee that they’re
going to be successful; it doesn’t guarantee that they’re going
to go somewhere. All anybody can ask for is that an idea gets to
the right place and gets at least the right consideration.”10
Beyond the Crossroads CIOs have made tremendous progress during the past decade in
Page 21 strengthening their value and influence in a broad range of organizations.
Globally, CIOs’ increasing involvement in strategic business decisions
and their impact on innovation and growth have helped propel IT from a
support function to an integral and vital part of the business — to Expand
Tactical Roles
Business Impact. Nevertheless, opportunities exist for improvement.
“This is the best time to be a CIO — technology is the mother

lode. It is the largest cost in any business, so if you can align it
with the business the potential for impact is enormous. Apart
from labor it is the largest spend, and the largest lever to help
drive opportunity.”

Beyond the Crossroads Additional Perspectives on Increasing CIO Impact
Page 22
To maximize their effectiveness, CIOs can gain benefit by considering
the full range of possible influences outside and within their enterprise
when evaluating their actions and where to focus next. In addition to
the advice detailed above, there are external and internal factors that
CIOs should consider to become more business savvy and to increase
their organizational impact. These factors are highlighted below.
Factor Considerations
Macroeconomic The Business-Savvy CIO makes sure to stay abreast of major market
Factors forces and the broad trends and influences in the economy that might
impact their enterprise. Particularly, after the recent economic crisis, it
is clear that an ongoing understanding of the implications of market
trends is key to envisioning how technology can provide a path to growth
and competitive advantage. One area of focus is to assess the role of
macro market forces on the potential for risk to the enterprise. Today’s
C-suite peers are increasingly looking for the CIO to proactively identify
potential risks and implement processes and approaches to mitigate
those risks before they become a crisis for the enterprise.
Regional Conditions The Business-Savvy CIO also takes into account the business impact of
global and regional factors that affect their enterprise. Successful CIOs
find a way to leverage this information to advise on more localized risk
and potential for shorter term emerging opportunities. Another key
element to staying ahead of impactful regional conditions is to track
and understand the availability of industry-specific technology skills in
the region. Building an effective IT team that understands the needs of
the business is critical for CIOs within top-performing enterprises,
underscoring the need to stay on top of the pipeline required to build
this team.
Industry A critical key to positioning the enterprise for growth is a deep under-
Characteristics standing of the customer and how customer expectations are changing.
Business-Savvy CIOs take proactive steps to understand customers’
needs and factor changing customer expectations into their innovation
priorities and plans. Successful CIOs also take the step to understand
how the enterprise’s customer relationships are evolving, and seek to
align with customer-facing teams to embed technology and innovation
into delivering high priority customer solutions. Thirdly, Business-Savvy
CIOs build their knowledge of the industry in which they operate. They
know where competitive threats exist, and consistently examine the role
of technology in creating and alleviating those threats to the enterprise.

Beyond the Crossroads Factor Considerations
Page 23
Organizational Business-Savvy CIOs also look inward to create and enhance their
Influences impact. Successful CIOs underscore the importance of understanding
the organizational structure and culture of the enterprise in order to
effectively lead change and transformation. CIOs who are able to evaluate
the overall business and the position of the IT function within that frame-
work are positioned to more effectively assess the internal landscape
and proactively establish their place at the table. Also critical to leading
innovation and change is the ability for the CIO to build and manage
C-suite relationships within the enterprise. They find that credibility and
influence will come from effective collaboration.
Personal Aspirations Finally, Business-Savvy CIOs continually look to build and enhance their
own skills and knowledge as a business leader. They regularly reach out
to request input from end users and IT colleagues to identify areas of
strength as well as opportunities for improvement. They also take
advantage of the experiences of professional peers and seek to learn
from other CIOs to further capitalize on those opportunities.

Page 24
How the Center for
CIO Leadership Can Help
Building on the base of knowledge gathered in previous surveys, the
Center is continuing to research the key strategic competencies required
for CIOs to advance in their profession. With each round of research,
new insights are made, new questions surface, and additional opportu-
nities emerge for identifying and closing the gaps. The Center serves as
a hub for collaboration — a central community and an open, unbiased,
confidential peer-to-peer networking environment available to CIOs
around the world. With its academic and learning partners, the Center
delivers education programs in a variety of formats, including:
• Hosted classroom executive education

• Online virtual classroom study
• Community learning through events, forums, social networking
• Peer mentoring
The Center for CIO Leadership provides rich resources tailored to CIOs’
needs, including research, content, outreach, and education programs
to help CIOs advance their performance and become better Business-
Savvy CIOs.
About the Center for CIO Leadership

The Center for CIO Leadership is a global community created to advance
the CIO profession. Founded in October 2007, it is a membership-based
peer network of more than 1,600 CIOs worldwide, and its mission is to
provide global thought leadership to drive research, education, and out-
reach. The Center sponsors relevant and timely educational programs
in collaboration with academic and learning partners, develops practical
insights, promotes peer-to-peer mentoring, and fosters a greater
understanding of the business value of IT among executive leaders
and industry influencers.
Learn more at www.cioleadershipcenter.com

Page 25
Endnotes
1. Sourced from Center Video: The Opportunity to be a Hero, Joseph Eckroth,
Senior Vice President and CIO, The Hertz Corporation, March 2009.
2. Ibid.
3. Sourced From Center Video: Realizing More Value from Your Partners,
Michael Friis, Chief Information Officer, Saab Group, March 2009.
4. Sourced from Center Video: Promote Technology Adoption, Paul Jeffreys,

Director, Information Technology, University of Oxford, March 2009.
5. Sourced from Center Video: The Changing IT Skills Mix, Paul Jeffreys,
Director, Information Technology, University of Oxford, March 2009.
6. Sourced from Center Video: Using Data Strategically for New Opportunities,
Robert Fort, former Chief Information Officer, VP of Information Technology,
Virgin Entertainment Group, March 2009.
7. Sourced from Center Video: It’s About Value, Not Cost, Robert Fort, former
Chief Information Officer, VP of Information Technology, Virgin Entertainment
Group, March 2009.
8. Sourced from Center Video: There are No IT Projects, Only Business

Projects, Aimé Achard, Chief Operating Officer, BCV - Banque Cantonale
Vaudoise, March 2009.
9. Sourced from Center Video: The Need for Multi-Disciplinary Teams, Aimé
Achard, Chief Operating Officer, BCV - Banque Cantonale Vaudoise,
March 2009.
10. Sourced from Center Video: Be a Conduit for Ideas, Joseph Eckroth, Senior
Vice President and CIO, The Hertz Corporation, March 2009.

Page 26
Appendix
I. CENTER FOR CIO LEADERSHIP COMPETENCY MODEL
The 33 Good Practices below are a vital set of guideposts for CIOs to reference as they progress in the
competency areas and, in turn, become effective leaders of change and drivers of innovation.
Core
Competency Associated Good Practices From the Center for CIO Leadership
Leadership s 0ROVIDECLEARVISIONOFHOW)4WILLDRIVETHEBUSINESS
s !LIGNBUSINESSCOLLEAGUESTO)4VISION
s %STABLISHANDMAINTAINSTRONGRELATIONSHIPSWITHEXECUTIVECOLLEAGUES
s 3ERVEASATRUSTEDADVISORWITH,/"SANDMANAGEMENT
s "ESEENASALEADEROFCHANGEANDTRANSFORMATION
s +NOWHOWTOLEADANDINFLUENCEOTHERSWITHOUTFORMALAUTHORITY
s #OMMUNICATECOMPLEX)4STRATEGIESANDEXECUTEPROGRAMSINTERMSUNDERSTANDABLETOEXECUTIVEPEERSANDCLEARLYLINKEDTO
BUSINESSPRIORITIES
s (ELPOTHERSBUILDSTRONGTEAMSANDTRUSTEDPRODUCTIVERELATIONSHIPSACROSSTHEORGANIZATION
s %STABLISHAGOVERNANCEMODELTHATINTEGRATESBUSINESSPRIORITIESANDALLOWSBETTERSTRATEGYANDINVESTMENTDECISIONS
Business s &ULLYUNDERSTANDTHEBUSINESSENVIRONMENTINCLUDINGCOMPETITIONEMERGINGINDUSTRYTRENDSSUPPLIERSCUSTOMERBASEAND

Strategy REGULATORYENVIRONMENT
and Process s -AINTAINACOMPREHENSIVEhEND TO ENDvVIEWOFTHECOMPANYANDTECHNOLOGYSROLEINENABLINGTHEENTERPRISETODELIVERBUSINESSVALUE
TOCUSTOMERS
s 0ARTICIPATEACTIVELYINDEVELOPINGBUSINESSSTRATEGY
s $ELIVERONBUSINESSSTRATEGYTHROUGHANACTION ORIENTEDPLANTHATLINKSBUSINESSGOALS
s ,INK)4INVESTMENTSTOONEORMOREKEYBUSINESSDRIVERSTOP LINEGROWTHBOTTOM LINESAVINGSRETURNONINVESTEDCAPITALANDREPUTATION
s "UILDACLEARANDEFFECTIVEGOVERNANCEPROCESSFORENGAGINGHIGH PERFORMINGEXTERNALPARTNERSFOROUTSOURCINGCO DEVELOPMENTETC
s "ESEENASALEADERBYINDUSTRYPEERS
s $EVELOPBUSINESSVALUEINDICATORSTHATLINK)4PERFORMANCEMETRICSANDBUSINESSGOALS
s -AINTAIN)4RISK MANAGEMENTSTRATEGY
s )NTEGRATE)4RISK MANAGEMENTSTRATEGYWITHENTERPRISERISKMANAGEMENT
Innovation s "ESEENBYEXECUTIVEPEERSASSOURCEOFTECHNOLOGYTHATCREATESCOMPETITIVEADVANTAGEFORTHEORGANIZATION
and Growth s 3ECURERESOURCESFORINNOVATIONANDINVESTMENTBYIDENTIFYINGTECHNOLOGY ENABLEDBUSINESSOPPORTUNITIESFORTHEENTERPRISE
s %XAMINECONTINUOUSLYHOWTOUSE)4RESOURCESTOEXTRACTGREATERCUSTOMERVALUEANDECONOMICGROWTH
s 2EGULARLYWORKWITHCLIENTSANDEXTERNALSTAKEHOLDERSTODEVELOPNEWOPPORTUNITIESANDORINNOVATION
s !CTIVELYINVOLVEMEMBERSOF)4TEAMINIDENTIFYINGHOW)4CANENABLEBUSINESSOPPORTUNITIESFORTHECOMPANY
s ,EADINITIATIVESTOENSURETHAT)4ANDTHEORGANIZATIONAREFLEXIBLEANDAGILEENOUGHTOSUPPORTTHERAPIDRATEOFCHANGE
s %NSURETHATTHEORGANIZATIONHASAPROCESSFORENCOURAGINGIDENTIFYINGANDEVALUATINGTECHNOLOGY DRIVENINNOVATIONOPPORTUNITIES
Organization s %NSURETHATTHE)4TEAMUSESEFFECTIVECOMMUNICATIONSKILLSTOESTABLISHCREDIBILITYWITHBUSINESSPEERS
and Talent s $EVELOPAPROCESSANDAPLANFORDELEGATINGAUTHORITYTOALLOWMORETIMEFORSTRATEGICACTIVITIES
Management s !CTIVELYDEVELOPTHELONG TERMBUSINESSAND)4CAPABILITIESOFTHE)4TEAM
s +NOWTHECRITICALCOMPETENCIESFORTHE)4TEAMSSUCCESS
s )MPLEMENTAPROGRAMTHATLINKSBUSINESSANDTECHNOLOGYOBJECTIVESTOTHE)4TEAMSPERFORMANCEGOALS
s $EVELOPTRAININGOPPORTUNITIESFORTHE)4LEADERSHIPTEAMANDIDENTIFYASUCCESSIONPLAN
s !NALYZEBUSINESSPRIORITIESANDESTABLISHAPLANTOACQUIREANDGROWTHETALENTNEEDEDTOACHIEVETHOSEPRIORITIES

Page 27
II. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The Center for CIO Leadership provides research and content to help CIOs advance their business
savvy and strategic skills and competencies. The Center regularly solicits and shares insights and ideas
from its CIO members to add value to this process.
Visit the Center site for the full range of materials available to members. Below you can find more about
the advice and insights shared in this paper.
Center Pulscheck: The Changing Role of the CIO in the Current Economic Environment
CIO Research Synthesis: Communicating Business Value
CIO Research Synthesis: Communicating the Value of Technology in the C-suite: Challenge and
Opportunity
Video: Aimé Achard, The Need For Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Video: Aimé Achard, Use IT For Innovation
Video: Joseph Eckroth, The Opportunity To Be A Hero
Video: Paul Jeffreys, The Changing IT Skills Mix
Video: Joseph Eckroth, Be A Conduit For Ideas
Video: Robert Fort, It’s About Value, Not Cost
Video: Robert Fort, Measuring Technology ROI
Video: Robert Fort, Using Data Strategically For New Opportunities
Video: Michael Friis, Realizing More Value From Your Partners
Video: Paul Jeffreys, Promote Technology Adoption

© Copyright Center for CIO Leadership 2010

www.cioleadershipcenter.com
Produced in the United States of America
January 2010
All Rights Reserved
IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corporation in the United States, other
countries, or both.
Other enterprise, product and service names
may be trademarks or service marks of other
enterprises.

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